Chapter Eight

	"Damn!"
	The exclamation that Jules uttered under his breath wasn't exactly encouraging, as
the two women sat patiently in his plane. Even less so, since they had just heard the
engine sputter stubbornly and watched Jules flicking switches on the instrument panel
with no change in the sputtering sound.
	"Hold on a minute," he said, glancing at them over his shoulder as he climbed
back out of the plane.  Dolores glanced at Hayley, and the two of them watched as he
flipped open the plane’s engine flap and stuck his head inside.  After several minutes
during which they heard a lot of banging and tapping and cursing,  he stuck his head
through the door of the seating compartment of the plane with a deep frown on his face. 
	"I'm afraid we won’t be going anywhere right now, the fuel line is frozen."  He
looked at Dolores.  "I can thaw it out, but that will take some time.  There’s no need for
you two to freeze while I work on the plane.  I’ll drive you ladies over to my apartment
then come back here to work on it.” 
	“Your apartment?”  Dolores sounded impressed. “You have an apartment here?”
	“Yes Ma’am,”  Jules nodded, and Hayley thought he looked almost amused. “I
keep an apartment here in Whitehorse for occasions just like this, or when I have to stay
in town for business. “  He looked at her questioningly for a moment.  “Or, I could try to
arrange for someone else to fly you ladies back to the lodge, and I’d follow later when I
have the plane fixed?”
	Dolores seemed unphased by the unexpected change of events.  "Oh, I'm sure
there's no need to trouble another plane just for us, Jules.  We can wait until you’ve
repaired your own plane.  I’d quite like to see this apartment of yours.”
	He chuckled.  “It’s nothing fancy, Dolores, I assure you.  Just a place to lay my
head when needed. Hopefully I can get the plane repaired this afternoon, and we can get
back to the lodge. If worse comes to worse, though, we may end up having to spend the
night.”
 	“And there’s nothing wrong with that. Hector will be fine by himself for the one
night if it comes to that.  We can just stay here in town until you get the plane fixed." 
Dolores said, with a nod as she prepared to climb back out of the plane.  Hayley
followed, clutching her shopping bags protectively, while Jules gathered up the bags
Dolores had left behind.  After stashing all the shopping in the back of the SUV once
again, and securing the plane, Jules turned the truck back towards town, and the
apartment he and Hayley had stayed in on the night of her arrival.
	"Like I said, it's bare basics, I'm afraid," Jules said to Dolores when he opened the
apartment door and let the ladies go in ahead of him.  "I know it's not the
accommodations you paid for, so hopefully we won’t have to sleep here tonight.” 
Although he was speaking to Dolores, he shot a quick glance towards Hayley, who
blushed under his gaze.  
	Hayley knew exactly what he was thinking.  She’d stayed in this apartment
before, and she  remembered it well.  She knew there were only two bedrooms, and two
beds.  Since Dolores believed Jules and Hayley were married, she would certainly expect
them to share a bedroom without blinking an eye, and unlike back at the lodge, there was
no cot here!  No one could sleep on the couch either, because Dolores would think that
much too strange, and it would completely defeat the purpose of their charade.  Silently
she prayed he would be able to fix the plane before it was too late in the day.
	"It will serve our needs just fine, Jules. Don't you worry one little bit,"  Dolores
was saying, and Hayley gave Jules a shaky smile. 
	“Right,” he said, setting the shopping bags down and heading back towards the
door.  “Then I’ll leave the two of you for a while, and see if I can thaw out that fuel line.” 
And with that, he was gone.
	Hayley wandered over to the window, while Dolores sat down in the nearest
chair.  The room was silent for many minutes, and although Hayley got along well with
the other woman, there seemed to be absolutely nothing to say.  At last she turned away
from the window and sighed. 
	“I wish I’d asked him to stop at a store on the way over here,” Hayley said, half to
herself.  When Dolores looked up questioningly she smiled slightly and clarified her
comment. “He doesn’t keep any food in this place because he doesn’t stay here much.”
Dolores raised her brow. “Don’t you ever stay here with him?”
	“Oh yes!” Hayley nodded, realizing the implications of her choice of words.  “But
I’ve only stayed here once since I — since we got married.  I still think of it as his
apartment.”
	Dolores smiled, seeming to accept that explanation.  “Well, what can we do about
something to eat then?” she said, standing up and walking over to join Hayley at the
window.  She looked up and down the street, but could not see anything that looked like
a store or restaurant nearby. 
	“There might be a place that will deliver?” Hayley suggested. 
	Dolores’ eyes seemed to light up. “Do you think there is a pizza place?”
	Hayley almost laughed, catching herself just in time.  Did the well dressed, well
bred woman standing before her really  look as if she were drooling over the possibility
of eating delivery pizza?   “Well, we can sure find out, can’t we?” she said, and the smile
on Dolores’ face grew. 
	“I do love pizza,” the woman said, sounding almost guilty in her excitement. 
“Hector abhors it, but sometimes when he’s away on business overnight, I order pizza
delivery at home.”  She looked quite smug with herself, then winked at Hayley. “Now,
not a word to Hector about that!”
	This time Hayley did laugh out loud, as she promised the woman’s secret was
safe with her.  The only hurdle to overcome in the quest for pizza, then, became the
search for a phone book.  When they found none, Hayley stood in the middle of the room
and threw up her hands in frustration.
	“I can’t believe the man never makes a phone call from this apartment!” she
exclaimed, and gave one last scan of the livingroom, and sighed. “There’s only one other
thing to do,” she said, walking toward the door. “If I’m not back in a half hour, call the
police,” she said jokingly and Dolores laughed.  
	“Certainly,” she agreed. “But I don’t know what their phone number is!” she
joked, and Hayley left the apartment in a fit of laughter. 
	Several minutes later she was back, waving a piece of paper triumphantly in the
air. “It took three apartments, but I finally found someone who would open their door,
talk to me, and relinquish the coveted phone number of a local pizza place.”
	Dolores rubbed her hands together and they ordered their pizza, and within less
than an hour they were sitting around Jules’ livingroom eating and laughing.  By the time
Jules returned, the left over pizza had been long since abandoned, and the two women
were sitting comfortably on the couch reading hunting and fishing magazines!
He stood in the doorway and looked at them in disbelief.  “Well, it looks like you two
ladies had no problem fending for yourselves,” he said.
	Hayley smiled at him. “We went out and hunted,” she said, holding up the
magazine she was looking at. “And we killed ourselves a big pizza.  There’s some left if
you want some?”
	Dolores giggled like a school girl, and Jules just shook his head and smiled. 
“Well, I might as well take you up on that offer, since it looks like we won’t be getting
any of Anna’s good home cooking tonight.” He glanced at the women. “I wasn’t able to
get the fuel line completely thawed out.  I picked up a replacement part, but it’s too late
to fly back to the lodge tonight anyway, so we’ll have to spend the night here, and I’ll
replace the part in the morning and we’ll head back then.”  He reached for a slice of left
over pizza, then glanced cautiously at the women.  “So, am I still allowed to have some
of this, after delivering that bit of bad news?”
	“Why Jules!  Of course  you are! Eat up, this place is absolutely lovely, we’ll be
perfectly comfortable here for the night.” Dolores assured him.
	Jules nodded. "I'll call the lodge and let Marty know what's going on.  Anna will
make sure Hector is well looked after."
	For the rest of the evening,  every time Hayley looked at Jules she was reminded
of the fact that she and Jules would have to sleep in the same bed that night!  She’d been
sitting on the couch half asleep for some time when Dolores stood up and announced that
she was going to bed, and disappeared into the bedroom Hayley had slept in on her
arrival to Whitehorse.  Hayley glanced nervously at Jules, who stood up and held out his
hand.
	“Come on, you’re so tired, you’re falling asleep where you sit. Why don’t you go
to bed?”
	She wrinkled up her nose, and glanced toward the door, but he took her hand and
led her into the bedroom.  "We're both responsible adults, right?" he said to her, when
they finally stood side by side in the master bedroom.  "We should be able to make this
work so that we can both get a good night sleep."
	Hayley looked at the bed.  Although it was a double bed, is suddenly looked oh so
small. "There is no other choice, is there?" she asked, knowing full well what the answer
was, and sighed when he shook his head.  "Alright then," she said, but didn't move from
where she was standing. Instead, she crossed her arms in front of her and stood staring at
the bed. 
	"I — I wasn't expecting this, you know." She glanced sideways at him. "Any more
than you were. I haven't got anything to wear to sleep in."
	He nodded, and walked over to the small dresser at the end of the bed.  Moments
later, he produced a T-shirt, with a Klondike Days logo on it, and handed it to her.  "I
keep a few things here in case I get stranded.  Here, you can wear this," he offered.  She
took the shirt from him and looked at it, but still didn't move.  At last, he nodded again
and cleared his throat. "Right then. I'll leave you alone to change."
	"Thank you," she said quietly, as he left the room.
 	Hayley quickly changed into his T-shirt and slipped under the covers,  just in case
he returned, but it seemed like hours before Jules finally returned to the bedroom.  When
he did, she lay there silently, willing herself not to move so he would think she was
asleep.  She felt the bed move as he sat down, then nothing for several minutes, until at
last he lifted the covers and lay down beside her, laying with his back to her.  So close
she could have reached out and touched him!

	Jules was painfully aware of the warm feminine body laying next to him in the
bed.  He tried not to think about it, but it seemed that his awareness of her was not
directly connected to thinking at all.  In the silence of the room he could hear her
breathing quietly behind him as she slept, and he fought a hard battle with himself over
the urge roll over and drape his arm over her and pull her close to him.
	But no, he mustn't touch her! That would just ruin everything.  He had promised
her that he would be a complete gentleman regarding this masquerading as husband and
wife, particularly where the bedroom arrangements were concerned, and if nothing else,
Jules Landon was a man of his word!  No matter how strong his physical attraction to her
was, he had to resist at all costs. After all, it was just a physical attraction, and to act on it
would put the future of the lodge in jeopardy.  All it would take would be for Hayley to
let the Shellingtons know their marriage was a ruse, and who knew what Hector could
do.   He'd put too much into building his home into a profitable business venture, to let
something like this mess it up now!
	And so he clung to the edge of the bed til long into the night, and woke up early
in the still-dark of the morning.  He left the woman sleeping and headed out to the plane
to work on replacing the fuel line in the sub zero temperatures they were experiencing. 
Several hours later he returned to the apartment to find them just getting moving for the
day.
	"Jules, there you are," Dolores greeted him with a smile. "Where have you been
so early in the morning?  Hayley said she didn't notice when you got up and left."
	"She was sleeping like sleeping beauty, I didn't want to wake her,"  he said. 
Dolores laughed cheerfully and turned towards Hayley as she appeared from the bedroom
they had shared the night before.  
	"You are so lucky to have this wonderful man for a husband!" Dolores said with a
grin.  
	"You look so tired!"  Hayley said at the sight of him, ignoring Dolores' comment,
then she blushed when she remembered the awkwardness their sleeping arrangements
had caused.
	He smiled, and she knew he was thinking of the same thing. "I couldn’t sleep, so I
got up early and went to work on the plane, Little One.  It's ready, we can head back to
the lodge as soon as you're both ready,"  
	Hayley nodded, and it was Dolores who spoke. "Then we are ready," she said with
a smile.

	When they arrived back at the lodge, Hayley placed the two hard cover books she
had picked up, on the coffee table in front of the fireplace, then slipped upstairs to hide
away the rest of her shopping in the bedroom she no longer slept in — at least not for the
time the Shellingtons were with them.  Dolores had told her that they had brought their
Christmas gifts with them to exchange at the lodge, so Hayley decided that she would
slip her gift for Jules in with them when they were put under the tree, so it would not be
so conspicuous. 
	The rest of the day passed uneventfully.  As evening rolled on, Hayley wandered
over to the large window that faced the lake and looked out over the snow-covered
landscape.  It seemed to glow in the moonlight, and she lifted her eyes to the sky,
wondering if the night was a full moon, then gasped in awe.
	“Jules!” She spun around to see where he was, then looked back out the window,
craning her neck to be able to see up to the sky.  When she sensed he was beside her she
spoke again, her voice full of wonder. “The sky! It’s beautiful!”
	“Ah, the Auroras are out tonight,” he said, smiling, and absent-mindedly resting
his arm across her shoulders. 
	“They’re dancing!” she said, lost in the magic.
	“Do you want to go outside to look at them?” he asked, and she turned to face
him with the excitement of a child on her face.
	“Can we?!”
	He smiled at her, laughter flickering in his eyes.  “Of course we can, Little One! 
Dress up warm, we’ll go down by the lake where there are no trees to block the view.”
	Hayley wasted no time getting dressed, and soon they were making their way to
the lake, Jules leading the way, and Hayley following awkwardly because she was trying
to watch the sky and walk at the same time.  At last he led her out onto the frozen lake,
and the whole sky opened up above her.  She let out a gasp, stood there wordlessly
watching as the lights danced and swirled on the inky canvas of the night sky. 
	Before he realized what she was doing, she was laying flat on her back in the
snow, looking up at the Auroras, oo-ing and ah-ing as each new shift of the lights made
what seemed like a more magical presentation.  Jules laughed, and decided he might as
well join her, and stretched out in the snow beside her.
	“They’re just like a kaleidoscope,” she said, in awe. “Constantly changing.  I’ve
never seen anything so beautiful!”
	Jules looked at her, laying with the snow all around her, the fur of her hat framing
her face.  I have, he thought, reaching to rest his gloved hand on top of hers.  He knew he
wasn’t thinking of the Auroras, but he kept his thoughts to himself, and looked back up at
the sky.  “They are beautiful, aren’t they,” was all he said out loud.
	She sighed. “Beautiful,” she repeated, as if entranced.  “I think, if ever I were to
have a daughter, I would name her Aurora.”  She glanced sideways at him with a shy
grin.  “Do you think that it too silly?”
	“Not at all!” he insisted.  “It would be a beautiful name for a beautiful child.
Especially fitting for a native child.”
	Hayley frowned, and sighed, and turned back to look at the sky. “Jules,  I know I
applied for this job under the understanding that I am of native decent. I’m sorry if I
deceived you.  All I have that’s even remotely native is my looks.  I don’t think any
different than anyone else in San Diego, you know.  I have no clue about native history or
customs.  I’d like to learn, but I don’t feel I’m lacking anything for not knowing.”  She
glanced at him again, concern in her eyes. “But I make no apology for that, except for the
part of deceiving you.  I am who I am, and I won’t defend that.  I’m no more white than I
am native.  I’m just me.”
	“And don’t ever stop being you, Little One!”  he said, his voice thick with some
unidentified emotion.  “There’s much a man like me can learn from you.”
	“What do you mean, a man like you, Jules?” she questioned, but he lifted his eyes
skyward, and said nothing. It was a question he was not prepared to answer now, she
realized, and may never be prepared. 

	When at last they returned to the lodge, they discovered that Dolores had decided
they should all gather round the fireplace and sing carols.  Jules  pleaded tone deafness,
but Dolores would not hear of him sitting out.  And so they all gathered by the crackling
fire to sing. Even Marty and Anna joined them for a while.  For the occasion, Jules turned
off the electric lights and lit the oil lamps that decorated the walls around the lodge and
were normally used as back-up lighting when the generator failed. 
	The mood was warm and soothing, as they sang every wintery Christmas carol
Dolores could think of.  Since they were in the snow, she said, they should sing snowy
songs. As they stood around the fire, Jules moved in beside Hayley, and slipped his arm
around her waist while they sang White Christmas. 
	"You sing beautifully," he said, when the song was over, resting his lips against
her ears so their guests thought he was dropping a gentle kiss there.  "Much better than I
do."
	Hayley turned to face him with a smile, then wished she hadn't. Their eyes met,
and she couldn't turn away. It was a dreamy trance, compounded by the flickering
firelight and oil lamps, and Hayley found it almost impossible to breath.  Suddenly she
wanted him to kiss her, and that fact startled her.  
	Being married to him is just a game, she reminded herself. He's my
boss!  When the Shellingtons are gone I will still have to work with him, see him every
day, sleep in the bedroom next to his. I cannot allow myself to let this little play acting go
to my head!  But his grip tightened around her waist, and his eyes dropped to her lips.
She swallowed hard and told herself to look away, but she couldn't.  
	Dolores began the first lines of Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, and Marty
piped in with her, with Hector following right behind. "Come on, Jules, sing with us!"
Dolores urged, between lines, and he turned towards his guest.  Hayley took the
opportunity to slip away from his grasp and excuse herself, murmuring something about
making hot chocolate.  She disappeared into the kitchen and put on the kettle, then
leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. 
	Why on earth was he affecting her this way? Granted, he was good looking —
breathtakingly good looking — but she'd never gone all weak-kneed for any other man
before!  But the touch of his fingers on her skin was electrifying, sending tingles down
her spine and making her want to be wrapped in his arms forever, and she wished it
wouldn't.  How could she  live in this secluded lodge with him if one look at him made
her melt?  It was ridiculous.  A silly school girl type crush was all it was, and she just had
to get over it.  
	The kettle started to boil and she turned it off.  She heard the sounds of Deck the
Halls filtering in from the other room, and she went back towards the fireplace without
making hot chocolate.  She made her way carefully through the dimly lit diningroom,
then suddenly came thudding right into Jules as he stood right in front of her. 
	"Oh!" she said, pressing her hands against his chest to steady herself from falling
over as she bumped into him.  He took her by the waist and held her tightly, smiling
down at her.
	"I was wondering where you had got to," he said quietly.
	"I went  to make hot chocolate," she said, shakily, trying to look around him to
see the others.
	"Where is it?" he asked.
	"I changed my mind," she said simply, and he lowered his eyes to her lips. She
pressed her hands against him to push herself away but he held fast. 
	"Now, now, Little One, relax. I can't let you go, look where we're standing. It's
custom, after all."  He lifted his eyes upwards then, and she followed, then gasped when
she saw that they stood directly beneath the mistletoe.  She hadn't managed to remove it,
and now she had been caught.  Blushing, she looked quickly back to Jules. 
	"You wouldn't —?" she started, but her words failed her and she stood there lost
in his gaze.
	"Of course!” he said, looking at her with a boyish grin,  like he was surprised she
was even questioning him. “It's custom,” he repeated.  “Besides, our guests are watching.
They will be expecting it.  Dolores is the one who hung it up, remember?"
	"Oh,"  was all she managed to say.
	He lowered his head closer to her, his eyes moving from her lips to her eyes and
back again. His hand slid around her slightly more, and pulled her against him.  Just as
she let out a silent gasp, his lips touched hers, gently at first, like the touch of a butterfly,
then more deeply, enticing her to respond.  
	And she did. 
	Her breath escaped her in a faint whimper as her lips lost themselves to his, and
her hands crept higher and higher until they were wrapped around his neck.  He
responded by sliding his own hands all the way around her, crushing her body to his as
his kiss claimed her with an intensity she had never felt before.  When at last he released
her lips, though his hands still held her close, she was afraid she would fall if he did not
keep holding her.
	“Oh!” she whispered, and his eyes searched hers in the lamplight.
	“Hayley?” he said softly, not taking his eyes from hers.
	“Jules, I — we —“
	“Hayley, forgive me, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. I suppose I shouldn’t
have, but don’t regret doing it.”  He slid one hand up her back, through her hair and
pressed her head forward, resting his lips against her forehead.
	“Jules, I — I can’t go back out there. Please, tell them I’m not feeling well or
something.”  
	He nodded, but didn’t immediately release her.  Instead, his lips moved lower
until he was kissing her again, but this time a flutter of gentle, fleeting kisses.  Then his
hold lightened, and she stepped back, though still in the circle of his arms. 
	“I’ll explain for you, Little One,” he said, brushing a strand of hair gently from
her face. Then his hands dropped, and she was free. She stepped back, struggling with the
desire to be wrapped in his arms again, then she looked away and quickly made her way
upstairs to the empty bedroom she shared temporarily with him.
	Jules watched her go, and resisted the urge to follow her and kiss her all over
again, rejoining the group instead.   After explaining that Hayley had gone to bed with a
headache, he slumped into the nearest chair and stared into the fire.   Well that was a
damn fool thing to do! He scolded himself.  Why couldn’t you just leave her
alone? Why did you have to kiss her?  More to the point, why did you have to kiss her
like THAT!  So you were under the mistletoe, you could have just given her a little kiss
to please our guests — it’s obvious that’s what Dolores wanted because she’s the one
who hung the damn thing up —then you could have just let her go.  You took advantage
of the situation to get more from her than she was prepared to give, because it was what
YOU wanted. 
	But she didn’t resist you, he pointed out to himself, and grumbled. No, he
knew what was right and what was wrong, and that was simply not a defense.  The
bottom line was still that he shouldn’t have done it in the first place!  
	Pretending to be married to her had just gone to his head, he rationalized.
Pretending to have the right to take such liberties, without considering whether she would
welcome them.  He’d wanted to kiss her for days, but obviously she hadn’t wanted to kiss
him! He’d been thinking about kissing her for so long, he thought that all he had to do
was kiss her to get it out of his system.  But it had been a big mistake, right from the very
beginning, to think that he could just give in to his lustful urges and everything would be
just the same afterwards!
	No, nothing would ever be the same again!   Never again would he look at her
and not want to wrap his arms around her, weave his fingers through her hair.  Never
would his eyes rest on her lips without his lips not wanting to linger there themselves.  
But he couldn’t!  He couldn’t force himself on her again, not unwelcome like that. 
	Marty and Anna had gone back to their cabin, and the Shellingtons finally
stopped singing.  Dolores bade him goodnight and went upstairs, while Hector lounged in
his chair a while longer before he too made his way to bed. Jules sat in the empty room
and looked up the stairs.  She was there, asleep by now, in his bed.  
	His bed.  
	Oh it was almost too much to think about! Over the years he had shared a bed
with many a woman, with no thought to taking things any further than that. But Hayley
was not just any woman, and she didn’t deserve a casual fling.  If he was going to keep
his hostess and not have her pack up and leave the minute the Shellingtons had gone, he
knew he had to keep his cool.  And that meant keeping his hands off of her!
	Hayley wasn’t asleep when Jules finally slipped into the dark bedroom, but she
pretended to be.  It felt like hours had passed since that kiss under the mistletoe, but the
singing had stopped quite some time ago. She heard him moving about quietly, then the
creaking of the cot as he settled in for the night.  She pulled the covers up closer around
her chin and tried not to listen to the sound of his breathing from the other side of the
room. 
	Get a grip on yourself, Hayley! She  told herself.  This is just a game to
him, remember.  A game for the benefit of Hector and Dolores Shellington. Remember,
in a few days Carolyn will be here and he’ll be wanting to lay it on even thicker.  Get
used to it!  She took a deep breath and rolled onto her side, her back to the cot.  
	Alright, she thought, making up her mind.  Two can play at this game!
If he wants a loving wife with public displays of affection, then that’s what he’s going to
get. I’ll show him! All I have to do is keep my composure, that’s all! I won’t let this
turmoil I feel inside whenever he touches me get in the way of saving his lodge.  She
sighed. Oh sure, as if it was going to be that easy! 

	Hayley slept late the next morning, and when she finally made her way down
stairs Dolores was seated by the fire with a coffee, reading one of the books Hayley had
bought the day before. The woman looked up and smiled at her as she crossed the room
and sat down on the sofa, facing the fireplace.
	“Hayley, my dear, how are you feeling this morning?  Jules explained to us about
your migraine.  Terrible, terrible headaches those are.”  She shook her head in sympathy, 
	“I feel much better today, thank you.” Hayley smiled warmly at the woman.
Dolores actually looked relieved. “Oh, I’m so glad to hear it, my dear.  Sleep is the best
medicine! Do you get migraines often?”
	“No, thank goodness,” Hayley said.
	“Ah, Jules, your beautiful wife has finally joined us. She says she’s feeling much
better today.”  Dolores turned to look at Jules as he entered the room from behind the
sofa. Hayley turned her head as well, and felt her heart flip at the sight of him. She took a
deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Play the game, remember, she told herself, just
calm down and play the game.  It’s just that — a game.
	“Good morning, Darling,” she said with a bright smile, reaching her hand over the
back of the sofa towards him.  She saw a fleeting look of confusion in his eyes, then he
quickly met her smile with one of his own and took her hand in his. She gave a gentle tug
on his hand, trying to pull him down towards her, but he resisted.  
	“Good morning, Little One. The sleep did you good, I see,” he said, holding her
gaze, daring her to look away, but she held his eyes steadily.  Where she was sitting, her
back was to Dolores, and she gave him an expression that dared him not to play the game
that he had set down the rules for the night before. If he wouldn’t bend over so she could
give him a good morning kiss she would just have to do this thing with words.
	“Yes, thank you, Jules.  I was sleeping so soundly this morning, I didn’t even
notice when you got out of bed,” she said, sweetly.
	Her own smile didn’t waver, but his faltered just slightly and she saw him
swallow, then  blink, before he spoke again. “Well, I didn’t want to wake you.” He said,
finally drawing his hand away from hers and shoving both hands into his pockets.  Damn
the woman! What was she doing anyway? He’d vowed to himself to back off, and now
here she was laying it on extra thick.
	“We ate breakfast without you, but lunch won’t be long, Anna is cooking it right
now.  Can I get you a coffee?”  he asked, and when she agreed he nodded and spun on his
heels, disappearing into the diningroom.  As Hayley watched him go, she noticed that the
mistletoe was gone.